A week in photos

I drove up to Selma for the weekend so that I could be at a shower for my sister-in-law in Oakdale while my dear mom babysat. It went mostly great! Easy drives on all legs, great sleep for Lucy (not so much for me, unfortunately), and just a nice time with everyone on all ends of the journey.

Now, I wish I could blame my absent-mindedness on something. I thought the shower was at 2... it was at 1. I left the gift at home! Thankfully that was about it... but totally blond moments. I thought that since my hair is now "the color formerly known as blond," I wouldn't have blond moments anymore! Ah well.

Here are some pictures of our week. Thanks for always indulging me with pictures of my kid... I can't help it... she's such a dynamic subject. =)


This is at Heritage Park in Cerritos... behind her is the moat surrounding the little Island full of play houses...

She is a full-fledged Earle!

The eyes that will get her out of trouble...
Watching the 9'ers get killed with Grandpa. It was a grim day.

Gwammie! Wead! A CHUG CHUG! (Grammie, please read the Polar Express!)

The things that make life fun

Today I went to my first Mugs group (our church's version of MOPS). Last year it was always during Lucy's nap, which was a source of huge stress at the time. I think last year I wasn't quite ready for it. I haven't had good experiences with Bible Studies, so it's taken me a long time to be up to this. I had a really nice time, as I know a lot of people there now. They brought in "Color Me Mine" so we could paint coffee mugs. I'm pretty happy with mine except for the inside of the cup. I had to hurry, as Lucy was fading, so it is going to be splotchy and streaky. I'll snap a picture when I get it back in 2 weeks.

I smiled at Ms. Nomer's account of her first MOPS group today, as her sentiments sounded so familiar. I've reflected a lot in the last almost 2 years about how paranoid I used to be of going into that Mom zone. But now somewhere in there it dawned on me that cool people become moms, too--intelligent, fun, sweet people--and not just the type of people at another church I once went to that I knew I never could have connected with. It's been a real joy to get to know such real people, and bond with them over the wonderful craziness that is motherhood.

Here are my two favorite people in the world:

Chianti bottle, or botched crochet project? (Project is fine now... will show it when it's finished.)

The same crime, 30 years apart.

My Monday Night

Steve is taking Expository Preaching this semester at Talbot (a pre-req. in case he decides to do the Th.M), which takes place from 6:30 to 9:00 on Monday nights. At first I dreaded this... 2 more hours alone with the kiddo? But it has turned out to be a wonderful thing! Somehow I've seemed to have more energy for her after dinner than I do during the day--maybe because I'm not trying to get my own stuff done at the same time. Then, the moment she's in bed, it becomes all about ME for an hour! I have decided that I will spend that hour in complete self-indulgence all 15 weeks of the semester. Last week I finished reading a book I've been working on for well over a year, believe it or not (Sanditon, a completed fragment of Jane Austen's... might review that on Slayers of Evil Media). This week I started to finish Surprised by Joy (C.S. Lewis, as I'm sure you all know), which I started more than a year ago.

I sit out on our new patio furniture and allow myself to really get cold in this lovely weather. I bring out an insulated caraffe of decaf tea, and each week I will select a different delicate tea cup to use. Last week was a cup given to me by two spinster sisters that lived together until they died. They were dear women and friends of my father's in particular. They gave that cup to me for my wedding, and I had not yet used it. It was particularly expensive in its day and I believe is a bit of a treasure. I have no intention of selling it, so I decided to use it rather than just preserve it. Tonight was a teacup that was given to me by Steve's mom from her mother's collection just after she died. Next week will be my own dear china, which as its own story.

I felt very British drinking my tea and reading Lewis. Of course, I had the audacity to drink it "neat."

Follow-up

Thank you to everyone who wrote to me about their experience with prayer! I am at a really cool place with this right now. I've spent a lot of my life feeling guilty, or like I'm "not doing it right" in so many areas of my spiritual life. What I'm trying to do is break some things down and do them in a way that fits who I am--not trying too hard to be the way a particular preacher or camp director spouted in a rally atmosphere. I recently prayed that God would help me find a time during the day that I could start a regular Bible reading. It has bounced all over the place as Lucy has changed habits in the last two years... It used to be in the early mornings when I fed Lucy (read the Bible on-line!), and then it was during bath time (she played so quietly for so long!). Now it is at the beginning of her naps. That used to be part of my dinner prep time, but I'm just praying God will help me find other times during the day when I can do the prep. So far it's been extremely rewarding.

Here are a few things I'm doing right now that are really freeing me up to make this a useful time:
* I'm using sticky notes in my Bible to just write down questions and observations to help me stay engaged in my reading. No epiphanies necessary, just write a few things. This came from a class I had in grad school that required that we write 3 questions 2 observations and 1 take-away for every reading to make sure we were using our minds as we read.

* I'm keeping stickies with prayer needs in the back. I'm not trying to dive into a particular format, except that I am trying to make sure I am praising God, thanking him, presenting my requests, and asking forgiveness. I'm trying to let this be somewhat organic, again just writing down the things that come to mind, and not trying to force anything.

* I was feeling a little frustrated knowing where to start with praising God, though again wanting to let it be organic. I pulled out my hymnal and started singing hymns! I love to sing, and there is so much good theology packed into those older hymns. What a delight!

Here are two (here and then here) really, really good articles (quick reads) that I found about prayer. I love Stand to Reason... they have a fantastic attitude about evangelism, and seem to come from a really no frills, "what is the truth" way of thinking. It's fitting me well right now.

Thanks for being on the journey with me!

The Earle weekend plus

What a nice weekend! Just "stuff" you know?

Just photos for now... brain feels squishy.

New picnic table for Lucy... she has loved other peoples' tiny tables. However, she hasn't taken to this one as fiercely as I'd hoped. Still cute, though.
Finally finished the little path for Lucy is finished, and some vincas put in for color.
The new patio table. The surfboard is newly hung as well.

My own personal Guernica...

Another request

If you are a regular reader of this blog, and you are a follower of Christ, I have a question for you, and I would like to humbly request that each of you answer if you are so inclined, and only to the extent that you are comfortable. If you'd rather respond to me in person, please do.

I'd really like to know something about how you learned to pray, and how you do pray. Give me as much or as little as you like. Here are some questions that are in my head that give context to your answers:

Did you come to follow Christ at an early age or a late age? Were you raised in a Christian home/church? Do you use words and sentences in your head? Do you write your prayers? Do you use fragments of thoughts? Is it easy or frustrating to pray? What kinds of things do you pray for? How do you begin? Do you follow a "format?" When do you pray? How often?

I've been thinking of these things because a.) I often feel that my prayer life is still growing and I am still often haunted by the odd guilt that says I must not be "doing it right." (I believe this guilt comes from lots of motivational speakers and "the camp syndrome.") b.) I'd like to bring up Lucy with a solid, sound understanding of how to pray. c.) I feel incredibly blessed to have so many friends who believe that Jesus is the way to reconcile us with God, and I always appreciate any chance I have to connect with you on that and learn from you.

Thanks for your answers, short or long. I look forward to what you have to say!

A day in the life

Since I ran across that article a few weeks ago that I mentioned in my blog, I have been thinking and thinking about what I didn't know about how a day goes and what keeps an at-home mom busy (or out-of-the-home working moms when they're not at work). I think I'd heard some of this, but whenever I thought about it, I was either mystified or terrified (hence not in a hurry to have kids). I keep thinking of these vignettes of skills I've had to learn, all of which will be very familiar to my pals with kids, and even familiar to those who are close with people who have kids. I hope this makes you smile!

In the shower:
1.) I"m lucky enough that Lucy still will allow me to put her in front of a video while I grab a very quick shower. However, that time is extremely volatile. So while she is running around, I grab my towel and clothes, put it in the bathroom. Get out anything I will need after the shower, like deodorant. Take my daily meds before I get in the shower. This could take 3 minutes or 30 minutes, depending on what kind of mood Lucy is in. I finally get her plugged into the video (all the time with the nagging voices of "The Guilt Creators" about how you shouldn't use television as a babysitter).

2.) I now prioritize what I do first. (Bathroom door is open, by the way.) Wash hair first as fast as possible, that way I can jump out of the shower fast if I need to. Then soap, and only if I'm feeling confident, do I shave. You can, of course, shave with baby oil out of the shower later if you have to. Jump out, dry off as quick as possible, get essential undergarments on as quick as possible. You are now able to move about the cabin if you must. Then, constantly assessing Lucy's attentiveness and knowing anything may get cut short, I then prioritize everything that's left into the "I could manage to do that if she's not looking" or "I'd better try to do this now" categories. Examples in column A are: cleaning ears, putting on my minimal makeup; Examples in column B are "Blowing hot air at my head in the middle of summer" (making hair minimally presentable).

3.) If I'm reeeally lucky, at the end of 15 min. I'll be clean, have dry hair, clothes on, a little bit of makeup, and then I might even be able to sit down and eat my yogurt without someone climbing up me like a cat scratch post saying, "Piece! Piece!" (which meas, "Gimme somma dat!").

4.) If I'm really, reeeeeaaally lucky, I can also unload the dishwasher! This rarely happens, however, as I generally don't get past paragraph 2.

Hope this gives you a smile. If I get around to it, I will do "grocery store skills," "bed-making skills" or "making dinner skills."

Need advice

What do I do about Lucy standing up in the grocery store cart? We haven't done much spanking yet... we're doing more of the "remove, talk, then distract" system, as that often seems to
work the best. However, I'm not against "minor pain" as my mom calls it, like a pinch on the arm... but I don't know what you do when you're out. I'm also open to recommendations of books for toddlers.

Family Fun Herd

Well, despite the nasty heat and the inability of our air conditioning to really keep up with it, we are having a nice holiday weekend. We've spent much of the time in the pool, as you might guess. It's 30,000 gallons of skin coolant. =) I love actually coming in from outside and feeling cold for that one short moment.

My folks came down for the weekend, originally to help us with the yard, but the heat was jsut unbearable. My dad got up early and did a lot of work, but there's only so much you can do. They also came to babysit Lucy so Eric, Steve and I could go run a 5K. I'd decided to try the Disneyland 5K. Here's last year's race route...can't find this year's...


We had a great time, but I'll never do this run again. Too many walkers (people walking, not people with walkers), too narrow a course, too many people with jog strollers that weren't supposed to have them. We spent a good deal of the race darting from side to side and squeezing through little openings. Then they positioned all the characters at these choke points so people would stop to hug them and take pictures right when we were trying to run through a tight space. They also need to do staggered start times. It took us 8 minutes to get to the starting line, so you have no idea really what your time is. Getting out they had poorly organized where all the booths were, so getting water was an issue, too. However, despite the negative, it was a really fun time. It was fun to do a run with so much fun stuff to look at. My brother said he hadn't been to Disneyland since Grad Night!

Some little hilights... I love to run these races with Steve, because I think it's when he is most upbeat and encouraging. Whenever we come by people clapping on the sidelines, Steve gets all excited and claps and yells. He encourages me and yesterday gave high 5's to all the characters. =) Since I've been running regularly, this wasn't a hard run for me, so I enjoyed it much more than usual. Then at the end I had enough energy to spring the last 20-30 yards. There were lots of people lining the sides at the finish line, so when Steve and I took off, people started really cheering. It's a fun feeling to have a ton of people really cheer for you. =)

We celebrated by having a dinner of tri-tip (from the Central Valley... the best!) and some enormous shrimp. Oh man, oh man. To top it off I made a blueberry tart for dessert, which was just divine.

An excellent weekend, despite the melty-ness of it all.

Big Congratulations!!

Welcome to little Toren Hans Habbestad!! He arrived Wednesday just before 6pm, to proud parents Kristen and Greg Habbestad. He seems to be a little sweetie, and we can't wait to meet him in person!

August 27th

Lucy is 19 months old today! The time is zipping by...

Here was our day:

Fullerton Train Station, just for the heck of it. Lucy's really into Thomas the train, so I thought she might like seeing a real train. I love the Fullerton station... it's mission style with a hint of Italian villa.

Here comes the choo-choo! I made a little book for Lucy with the pictures from this morning, and she can't stop talking about it. "Train! Choo-Choo! Woo-woo! Chugga-chugga! Peoples off. Peoples on. Tracks!"
A succulent from my container garden, stuck in a bowl in my windowsill.

The Biola Years

I'm inspired by Ry-Bear to recount some of my college years. I can't say there were many crazy capers or exciting shananigans, and many great moments are shadowed by unfortunate alliances, but there are still some really fun moments there. Some of the things I remember about my years at Biola are colored by it just being the 90's, and about the changes I've seen in the school and the area since then.

Among many things, I simply just loved that I went to college during the grunge years. Wake up, put on flannel and ripped jeans, go to class. Or huge sweatshirt. Or huge t-shirt. With the sleeves rolled up. =) I loved the turn music was taking, and how raw but interesting some of the grunge stuff was. "Coffee houses" were new, and I remember going a few times to listen to some acoustic stuff in the night air with a mocha. I felt so cool.

My favorite moments, however often took place away from Biola. I was in Chorale, which was my little family. Two of my four Biola years began with a retreat up in Yosemite for a weekend. Gorgeous, gorgeous Yosemite with all your friends--priceless! Then there were the tours! Seattle, San Fransisco and Napa, The Eastern Seaboard. One day we drove from Providence, Rhode Island all the way down to Deleware, and it was like watching Spring arrive in a time-lapse video. Chorale always did "Celebrate the Son," which was this amazing, quiet church service of "Lessons and Carols." Worshippers entered quietly to the readings of the Old Testament prophecies, and the concert began with a single soprano quietly singing "Once in Royal David's City" a capella, while the Chorale joined in with more strength verse by verse. It was the most in awe I've ever been of the incarnation of Christ.

I think I will only say a few short words about one of the most important times of my college years: my semester in Washington, D.C. I made two dear friends there who have continued to be important in my life (well, one was already a friend, but you know...) I lived a mile away from the Capitol Building during a time when you could just walk in at will. I worked in view of that building and watched the Christmas tree being put up on the lawn in front. I learned two of the most important lessons of my life there: 1.) You must be free in any relationship to walk away from it, or it is not a real relationship, and 2.) When your circumstances are unfavorable, you have the most control over your own reaction to it.

Okay, this is probably way more interesting to me than it would be to anyone else, so I'll give it a rest!

Oh, and the sweater was FIVE squares! I swear, I did complete my math requirements in college.

News and Notes

Well, we're back from a week at Grammie and Grandpa's with my sister and the cousins. It was a wonderful but exhausting week. Lucy is just a bundle of curious energy, and when not in her own environment needs a great deal of looking after. But it was great for her to enjoy her cousins, her aunt and uncle, and her grandparents. Here are a few of the shots...

Yes, this is the cat's bed... and wouldn't you know it, as soon as we washed it, she wouldn't sit in it anymore.

Crayon nibbles, thanks to this blog. My sister provided the old crayons, and we had fun melting them in the muffin tins. Lucy liked to stack them, sink her teeth into them, and throw them, so not much coloring yet.
Out at Chinese food. Bean sprouts in her hair after using a huge spoon to shovel chow mein from Grammie's plate into her mouth...
Ice Cream sandwiches... Wouldn't I LOVE to show this to the "What to Expect" people? (They maintain you should only ever give your child food sweetened with fruit juice, and that only once a month.)
And this is what Stevador was doing while we were gone. I'm very happy with my new windows!!
Before I get too far, I need to correct the impression that my sweaters were hard! Trust me... we're talking 4 squares just sewn together. Totally easy or I would never have done them. =)

A big "hang-in-there" goes out to my dear friend K, who will have a baby any day now!

Crafty, crafty

I am enjoying the gift my mother-in-law gave me a few years ago... she taught me to crochet. My hands have always ached to have some kind of creative work to do, especially something portable. I tried cross-stitch once, and hated it. But then I learned crochet, and since have adored all the little projects that have come from my own two hands. They are all modest, nothing skillful or fancy, but something just feels right about creating. My mother is teaching me to knit, too, so I will likely have more projects in my head than I can ever catch up with.

Here are a few of the little things I am making. In addition, I'll add a picture of one of the two tarts I've made recently. Apologies on the photos... it's "Photobooth" again.

Here's the blueberry tart from Kristen's shower.

This is a sweater I made for my best friend from high school, whose baby girl is due to arrive in November.

Blocks for my sister-in-law's baby, due in October.

Sweater for the new niece, too. It needs a flower and a button still. It looks a little more grey in this picture, and a bit hard to see the ruffled edge I added, but it's essentially a stone/taupe color.

I made this, too. =)

Favorite Dinner this week

One of my favorites! Someone brought this to us when Lucy was born, and we love it!

Linguini Marvini

3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup butter, cut in small pieces
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt or ¾ tsp regular
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 Tablespoons grated parmesan
Several sprigs fresh basil (about 14 leaves)
1 pound linguine
1 pound(ish) chicken cooked and cut in bite size pieces

*Start water boiling for linguine. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
*Add the garlic and saute until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir in the butter, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and 3 tablespoons of the Parmesan.
*Remove from heat. Add all but one sprig of the basil. Cover and let stand.
*Meanwhile, cook the linguine according to package. Just before linguine is cooked, add chicken to Marvini sauce. Toss linguine with chicken and sauce (if you add the chicken sooner, it seems to absorb the sauce and then there's not enough to toss. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan and garnish with the basil.

Flutters and tingles

While you all know I am not friends with summer, I just put on some tunes that reminded me of a very good summer. It reminded me of the week I met Steve, which would've been right around this week 8 years ago. I was reveling in my independence, my job (which was new and still fun), my new office (a 22 year old at Biola with a WINDOW office??), and the whole discovering myself part of life. I remember driving home with the window down listening to these tunes, and putting them on makes my heart skip a beat. There were just possibilities all over the place! Fun to be had! Places to go! People to meet! Things to read! After a really dark time in my life, it was one of the best times of my life. And then it got better.

I met Steve when my office moved to a new location. We had all kinds of telecomm and computer issues we needed help with. The former were taken care of by a friend of Steve's (now friend of ours), and the latter by Steve. Come to find out later the telecomm friend sent Steve to meet the nice, single blonde out at McNally. I wasn't at all looking to date someone, as I was so content in my life. But every time I talked to Steve, I felt like I could've talked until the end of the day. I'll spare you the details, but that guy got under my skin, and thankfully some mutual friends gave him a kick in the butt and he asked me out.

So while I'm generally no friend of summer, there was indeed a summer not so very long ago that was the instigator of the very best of my life. I seem to be happier with Steve every year that passes.

It's getting warm out, but I put some water on the stove with fresh snipped lavender and a few splashes of vanilla and it smells lovely in here! We are having an antipasto platter for dinner, which means no cooking for me... what a nice day!!

Thank goodness

I'm so grateful that none of my friends ever treated me the way this person treats her friends with kids. I'm also thankful that none of my friends who had kids first ever treated me with the infuriating "you'll understand when you're older" air. You must read this well-worded response to a woman wanting to be told that her friends with kids are just kicking back all the time.
See it here.

Lunchtime: A Quadriptych

These are done with "Photobooth" on my computer, which I believe is sort of a nod to the Poloroid genre. The guy who took our wedding photos took some phenomenal Poloroids (not of our wedding). They were gogeous--definitely Art! But I digress.

Notice the apple is nearly the size of Lucy's head...


Let's hear it for the mighty apple!

I understand these will keep Dr. Cheng away... I've got a needle prick on my thigh that indicates otherwise...

Poster-girl for eating healthy!

On Holiday

Shaver was just what it ought to be: the Sierras. The So. Cal mountains always made me sad because I felt like they were missing something. They seem... fake or something. I realized this weekend that it was the indescribableness of the Sierras they are missing. The house we were in was perfect. Big enough for all of us, and soundproof! We had a great time!

(Brooklyn & Lucy)
(Brooklyn & Tanner with Aunty Shanny)
(Lucy up to her neck in the lake... loved walking around in the water.)

Until....
Poor Steve really hurt his back pretty badly being pulled behind the boat, so since then we have slowed considerably. He is on the mend now, but it was a very painful and almost immobile few days. Lucy has had a tough week. Naps have been elusive, and she has just been full of trouble. Being in a not totally babyproofed environment and with Steve on the injury list, it made for a few busy days
for me.

However, we've really enjoyed being away from home. There is Harry Potter to read and see, cable television, other reading material, crocheting, and baking. We chuckled that people pay big money to go to Palm Springs, but we get our own little resort right here in Selma, complete with babysitting and good company.

Today was a British comedy following Lucy around--catching things just before disaster, and then not catching the things she moved on to as I was replacing the first averted disasters-- and I admit I am beat. We head home tomorrow, and I will be both sorry to go and glad to get home.

98 degrees

No, nothing to do with the band. Rather with Selma. It is a cookin' here! We made the best time we've made in ages on the road, even with traffic. Had a great evening with my folks, and of course they think that heaven itself will be something like grandparenting. Here's Lucy playing with pretend plates and cups.


We head up to the mountains this morning... can't wait to get out of the smoggy Valley air.

Off we go!

After the shower today, we head up to Shaver Lake to be with the Earle family. It brings back lots of memories from those mountains, as my family used to have a cabin up there. We'll all pack into this great place here and enjoy several days of boating, swimming, and hiking. Then for a few days in Selma with the Sorensen family. Why is it we go to places like Nebraska and Selma for our vacations in July? I'll never know, but somehow it keeps happening.

Bud will hold down the fort for us here, and while we're gone, the little buggers around the house will meet their chemically induced end. Ah, the satisfaction of it all.

Time for a shower... for the shower...

Today

Sam's Club. Albertson's. Crackers. Lunchmeat. The floor. The monitor. Flying books. The car. The crib. The monitor. The floor. Broken plexiglass. The car. Puffy taco. Hiccups.

Basically, that translated is, what a hell of a day. It involved much screaming and gnashing of teeth on both sides. But rough days don't last, and with a toddler it can turn on a dime sometimes, so we had a nice end to a crappy day. And I got to buy a swimsuit coverup. Doesn't that make up for it?

For your viewing pleasure, here's what I was doing 18 years ago around this time... Do you like my bowl cut? Or my little brother's "mini-gentleman" pose?
.

Lemon Cashew Chicken

Tonight I made lemon cashew chicken, and I believe I can say it was a success. A few tweaks next time (don't parboil the broccoli, blast it, stir fry!). I generally fail miserably with Asian food, so was glad for something yummy.

Today Lucy and I babysat a 2 month old. So did it make me want another baby right away? Not a bit! It made me want to enjoy having an only child for as long as possible. We enjoyed little baby Kate, though, and since Lucy was only allowed to touch her toes, she insisted that we do the piggies. (This little piggy went to... "Mah-KET," etc.) She was tiny and sweet and fun to visit with, but we were fine being on our own again after she went home.


Finishing up packing and getting a few things done for the shower. Tired today... Lucy was a handful most of the day. I'll be glad for a vacation with lots of extra adults and cousins to entertain!

Nothing in particular

I am so delighted with the recipes you all sent! I can't wait to try them! We had taco salad last night, Kristen. It is a favorite, but I hadn't made it in a long time. Super yum! I tried it with chopped olives instead of sliced, and it was really quite yummy.

Yesterday I was swinging between totally lazy and wanting to be super creative, which could also include organizing something. So I picked up and went to Office Max and bought file folders and a cute sticky pad. Excellent compromise if you asked me.

It will be hot here today, so I am counting on my dreams of autumn to get me through. Roasted veggies in the oven, a roast beef or chicken in there, too, candles around the house, long sleeves... oh, it does sounds so yummy! But best of all, football! Need I say more?

Busy weekend... park date today, VBS tonight, and a ton of errands in between. This weekend I clean the toys in the toddler room, too. Then I am working on getting ready for a baby shower as well as getting my family ready to leave the same day for vacation. I'm enjoying the bustle, and will enjoy the vacation even more. I love being with Steve 24/7. I am always sad when he goes back to work after vacation. But maybe if he were home all the time, I'd get annoyed. =)

Need:

Light, healthy, affordable recipes for summer. Particularly interested in non-oven recipes.

Thankfully this week I only have to cook twice! Yay!!

Happy 5th of July

We had a lovely 3rd and 4th of July. I took some more patriotic Lucy pictures, and posted them here. Hope you enjoyed celebrating our departure from those crafty Redcoats and King George. Damn your tea taxes! After my coffee, maybe I'll have some Earl(e) Gray...

New Favorite Words

Watching a vocabulary develop is a fascinating process. I don't know why God decided it should be cute... probably to keep it from being annoying. But it is a joy and a privilege to participate in. We've decided Lucy is a Cajun Canadian. "Out" sounds like "Oat," "Cow" is "Coh" (like in Coal), and "Chicken" is "Chick-KON."

Everthing is preceeded by "nah" these days, too. It's some kind of precursor to articles, I suppose. "Nah PEE-cy" means "A Piece," which means, "Hey, I want somma that!"

Some favorite words of mine are:
"Weee-bee!" It means fan, and I think she picked it up when we said, "Whee! Whee!" when we spun the blades around for her to see.
"No-goo" = Yogurt
"Bubbo" = Bud/Eric
"Chi-woh" = Cheerios
"Hoogy" = Hug
"Cup-POO" = Cup
"Bah-nay" = Bath
"Nah Poot" = Pool
"Wah-nay" = Water
"Oh NIH-NEE!" = Ninny = Pacifier
"Mickee" = Monkey
"Eee-wah" = Olivia / Ava (neighbor/cousin)
"Ta-cah" = Grandpa

I'd better keep my blog stored somewhere... this stuff's the sort of thing that's supposed to be in a baby book!

July: the Real American Melting Pot

I am not a fan of summer. It has little to offer me now that I am done with school. I feel that you spend your days couped up in rooms with air conditioning that just takes the edge off the heat, or else feels so processed you get claustrophobic. The fans are on all the time, and the tiny little hairs around your face that didn't make it into the ponytail you put up to cool your neck off constantly tickle your face like little gnats. Every day the house must be opened up and fans turned on while the morning is still cool, so that the air can get sucked into the house. This is really but a vain hope, and a 15 minute delay of the inevitable. In the mid-day when the war of the thermometor begins to be lost, we button everything up and give in to the air conditioning... the spinning meter whirring in the back of my mind all the while. You'd think that childhood in Fresno would have conditioned me for this, but someone else was paying for air then, and really, it's not a great deal better here in the summer during the day. I've decided in my dream life to own a second home up by my sister in Shoreline, Washington, and spend the summer there.

Oh, certainly there are good things. We have a pool, and it is indeed lovely. I do not have a body well-suited to the pool, however, so I'm back to griping.

And we lose the war until the end of October.

So. To counteract my bitterness of spirit, here are some of the lovely things about my summer.

Grammie came for a visit. She heard Lucy was starting to repeat the alphabet with us, and had to rush down for an emergency Grandparenting. It was lovely to have her here!
It gives me great, great joy that my daughter loves to read. She must have the right idea... this is a book about Christmas.

Car washing is always a fun passtime in the heat. Lucy has learned how to help! That running board was never so clean!
Apprentice to a former professional.

If I reeeeeeach just a little bit further, maybe I can get to the bottom of this thing!

The Invitation

My recent project has been finishing a baby shower invitation for my dear, dear friend, Kristen. We decided to hilight antique toys, so I decided to take a photo in sepia and turn it into the invite. Here are some of my attempts, then the final invite (information removed, so it takes away a bit of the effect, but you get the idea). It was really fun to see it come together!

The Back Yard

Lucy loooves being "ah-sigh!" (Outside.) Recently Steve picked up some sidewalk chalk, and we've been having loads of fun with it. Since Lucy knows most of the basic animals and what they say, Steve's been drawing these huge pictures of animals and telling Lucy, "Okay, go find the pig! Go find the chicken!" Such fun!



Happy cows do come from California!
Me: "Can you tell me why the pig has a goatee?"
Steve: "Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin."


Steve drew a huge circle, and Lucy just danced and played inside the circle... go figure!

I won't tell you who he was trying to draw here... he admitted it was a failed attempt.